Abstract
Sexual coercion is a common behaviour for males trying to compensate for being inferior in male competition and/or female choice. We measured the cost of male sexual harassment for females as reduced feeding time in three populations of the Atlantic molly ( Poecilia mexicana). Of these populations, one originated from a typical river habitat, another from a lightless cave chamber and the third one from a small, milky creek outside the cave. We gave hungry females an opportunity to feed in the presence of either another female or a male. We found the following: (1) male sexual harassment represents a cost in the river dwelling population and both small and large males significantly reduce female feeding time; and (2) sexual harassment was not detected in the other two populations (cave and cave entrance). In the cave molly, small males are at a disadvantage in female choice, but predation by an aquatic heteropteran selects against large male body size.
Plath, M